Death of the Serpent, Caress of the Phoenix
by Luna Smudge
Summary: [chapter 3 uploaded!] It's Harry's Birthday and he has a few surprises in store for him.
1. Default Chapter

**O.W.L results, letters...and surprises! **

Harry Potter was bored. He stared at the ceiling, wishing Hedwig would get back soon from wherever she was. She was his only real friend at no. 4 Privet Drive, and whenever she left, life was only just bearable. Admittedly his holidays before had been a nightmare, so it wasn't too bad now, but nevertheless he was still bored out of his skull waiting for her. She had been gone over a week since he had sent his last letter to Tonks.

Harry, at first glance, seemed to be an ordinary teenager. He was tall and thin, and his clothes hung loosely from him. His emerald green eyes stared through battered wire rimmed glasses, and his hair, always a mess, was no different this time. Even the scar he had, in the shape of a lightning bolt, was not an irregular occurrence. His headmaster, for example, had once told Harry that he had a scar that looked like a map of the London Underground just below his left knee.

No, there seemed nothing odd about Harry James Potter. Except that Harry knew that he was not like ordinary people. You see, Harry was a wizard, and a very famous one at that. Harry was the only person to have survived the 'Avada Kedavra' killing curse from the most powerful and dangerous wizard of that time: Lord Voldemort. When Voldemort tried to kill Harry, the curse rebounded and Voldemort became almost a spirit, having to inhabit people's bodies. Harry, on the other hand, received his scar. Since finding out he was a wizard, Voldemort had tried to kill Harry 4 times, the last two times after he had been resurrected at the end of Harry's 4th year. For the last year, Harry had been ridiculed by the press, until Voldemort entered the Ministry of Magic and tried to possess Harry. Harry had also discovered that he was the subject of a prophecy, which said that only Voldemort could kill him. Now, though, he was waiting for his O.W.L, or Ordinary Wizarding Level results. It was a fortnight since school had finished, and since his Aunt and Uncle had been told to 'look after him or else', he had been sending Hedwig, his owl, out every 3 days or calling his friends by telephone. However, since his letter to Tonks, a metamorphamagus, as in someone who can change their appearance at will, over 4 days ago, she had not come back. Harry was now worried. She had been gone longer than this, of course, but she was normally back the next day.

At this point, he heard a fluttering at the window. He rushed towards it, hoping desperately that it was Hedwig, which it was. However, with her were 3 other owls: Pig, Ron's owl and two owls he didn't recognise. He opened the window and let them in. Hedwig went immediately to her cage, not even bothering to offer Harry her leg. Pig, as usual, fluttered around excitedly, though he wasn't squeaking as much as normal. Eventually, however, he calmed down, flew down and offered his leg to Harry. The other two birds, in the mean time, flew onto the bed and waited there sedately, looking at Pig with obvious distaste.

Harry collected his letter from them and then went over to Hedwig's cage. She looked exhausted, but offered her leg to Harry delicately. He took the letter, opened the plain white envelope, and started to read.

_Dear Harry, _the letter read,

_Glad to hear you are doing well. I know you won't get this for at least a week, due to your O.W.L results being collected, but if we don't hear from you 3 days after that, we'll send a group of us in. Hopefully we'll hear from you soon. Tell us what the O.W.L results were when you get them. _

_With love, _

_Tonks_

Harry smiled. "So that's why you were so late! You had to go and meet up with these guys (here he gestured his head to the two owls on the bed) to show them were this dump is." Hedwig hooted, which he took to be a yes.

Harry then turned his attention to the 3 other letters in his hand. One, he could tell, was from Ron and, from the thickness of the envelope, probably Hermione as well. She hadn't mentioned that she was going to stay with Ron and his rather large family, but from the looks of things, she obviously had. The two other letters were in big plain white envelopes. He turned them over. One was marked with the Hogwarts seal, so he guessed that they must be his O.W.L results. The other seal he didn't recognise, so he opened that one first. There were two letters inside, one on a scrap of paper and the other with a seal on it. He opened the one with the seal first.

_Dear Mr. Potter,_ it began,

_As the firm of executors to your Godfather's will, I am obliged to tell you of not only the circumstances behind this letter, but also of the items you have inherited from him. Mr. Black instructed that we send this letter to your parents two weeks after his death, so as to give them time to recover. As they are dead, I am obliged to send it to their next of kin, that is you. _Harry sighed. He'd never quite got over how his Godfather had died. He carried on reading.

_I am obliged to inform you that you have inherited his house in Hogsmeade and all its contents. Also enclosed is a letter from your Godfather that he instructed to send with this one. _

_Yours faithfully,_

_Mr. P. Marshall, Marshall and Associates._

Harry stared at the letter. A house in Hogsmeade? Why had no one mentioned it before? Maybe the other letter would explain things. He opened it.

_Dear Lily and James,_

_Obviously, as you have received this letter, I have passed away two weeks ago. I have left you my house in Hogsmeade for Harry, Jem and Kitty to live in once they have left Hogwarts. _Harry started in surprise. Jem and Kitty? Who on earth were they? He frowned and carried on reading.

_I hope you are well,_

_Sirius._

Harry sighed and picked up the envelope Pig had brought. He opened it and found two letters inside. He rolled his eyes. "Which one to read first?" he mused to himself. He picked out a letter at random and opened it.

_Hey Harry!_

_How were your O.W.L results? We haven't received ours yet, but I bet Hermione's got 13! Ow! She just hit me! _Harry chuckled to himself at that.

_Well it serves you right, Ronald Weasley, for telling Harry that I have when we don't even know the results yet! _Came the even angrier reply in Hermione's neat handwriting. Harry was starting to have trouble suppressing his laughter. Only after he had composed himself did he pick up the letter and carry on reading.

_Sorry about that, Harry. Ron and I didn't mean to write that down. _Harry could imagine Hermione looking threateningly at Ron as if to want him to contradict her that instant. _By the way, I've bought a mobile phone and will ring you when our O.W.L results come through. In any case, I've got something I need to talk to you about. _Harry got the impression that he knew what that 'something' was, but couldn't be certain until Hermione called him. _We'd better go. I'll talk to you soon. Oh, Ginny's just asked me to put in something from her. Read it, will you?_

_Hear from you soon,_

_Ron and Hermione._

Harry raised her eyebrows. From Ginny, eh? He opened it and started reading.

_Dear Harry,_

_I know this has probably come as a bit of a surprise, but I wanted to invite you to stay at The Burrow for the holidays. This would be after you get your O.W.L results of course. I'd really like to talk to you about something. I can't say what here though. I've got Fred and George breathing down my neck at this very moment. They're telling me to tell you to come visit the shop soon and see how they're doing. Anyway, I've got to dash. Mum's calling us for supper. Hope to hear from you soon. _

_Lots of love,_

_Ginny._

Harry put down the letter. He wondered what she wanted to talk to him about. He looked at the end. Lots of love? "I wonder..." he mused to himself. He then looked down at the last letter on his bed. He gulped. He really didn't want to open it. He took a deep breath, picked it up, broke the seal and peeped inside, then closed it again. He closed his eyes and reached in, pulling out several sheets of paper. He opened them and started to read tentatively.

_Dear Mr. Potter, _

_Enclosed are your O.W.L results and a N.E.W.T request form. Please make sure you fill in and return these by owl as soon as possible as we need to work out the classes and send out the book list. _

_Yours sincerely,_

_Professor M. McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress._

Harry put the letter down on his bed and turned to the second sheet of paper. He realised that these were the results themselves, and started to shake with worry. He looked down the list, which was in alphabetical order.

_Astronomy...Acceptable. _"Well I expected that. Only Hermione would get more than that, after what went on in the exam," Harry thought to himself. He carried on down the list.

_Care of Magical Creatures...Exceeds expectations. _"Well Hagrid will be pleased," he smiled to himself.

_Charms...Exceeds expectations_

_Defence against the Dark Arts...Outstanding. _"I knew I could do it. After that Patronus, I didn't expect anything less," he muttered.

_Divination...Poor. _"Like I really care about that one," he said.

_Herbology...Exceeds expectations_

_History of Magic...Acceptable_

_Potions...Outstanding._ "You WHAT???!!!" He stared at the sheet of paper. Five minutes later he remembered he had one more grade.

_Transfiguration...Outstanding_

Harry put the results down on his bed along with the other letters and picked up the N.E.W.T request form. "Now which ones do I want to do?" He thought back to his careers advice. "I'll need Transfiguration, Potions, Charms, Defence against the Dark Arts obviously. I suppose I'd better take Herbology, because that will be useful. Oh and Care of Magical Creatures, because that's easy." He filled the form out and found there was a fourth piece of parchment. Puzzled, he opened it.

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_Congratulations on your exam results. I am writing to tell you that you have been appointed as Quidditch captain for Gryffindor. Please reply to this letter as soon as possible as I would like to confirm it with the headmaster._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Professor M. McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress. _

Harry stared. Quidditch captain for Gryffindor? He stared in disbelief at first. Then a smile gradually came over his face until he was grinning like a Cheshire cat. "YES!" he shouted, punching the air with his fist.

"Keep it quiet up there boy! I'm in the middle of an important phone call!" came Uncle Vernon's voice.

At that point, the doorbell rang. Harry heard Aunt Petunia going to get it, then heard a scream and a thud. Harry ran down the stairs. A voice wafted up to him. "H-H-Harry?" said a voice he thought he'd never hear again. He came right to the door and saw... "Mum? B-b-but... you're dead!" Harry said, and promptly fainted.


	2. Dramatic Happenings

Disclaimer: Sorry, I forgot to do this last time! I do not own any of the characters except Jem and Kitty, who are totally my own creation. Oh and the plot and the OWL results. And the intimate scene, which was written by kessanch.

**Dramatic happenings**

Harry woke up and opened his eyes...then closed them, rubbed them and opened them again. No, this was no joke. Somebody, who appeared to be the sixteen-year-old version of his mother, was standing over him, looking concerned. "Harry? Are you alright?"

"Whaa? What's going on? You're supposed to be dead. You've been dead 16 years. I'm confused." Harry sat up in the bed and looked at her.

"I'm not mum, Harry. Look at my eyes." Harry looked. "But...they're blue. Mum's eyes were green." "Exactly. You have mum's eyes, but dad's features. I have mum's features, but dad's eyes, whereas Jem has dad's eyes and dad's features." "Jem? Who's Jem?"

"I'm Jem," came a voice from behind the door. Then from behind it stepped... "You're me! Except female. Will somebody please explain what's going on?"

"Certainly, Mr. Potter," came a voice Harry instantly recognised.

"Professor Dumbledore! What are you doing here?" Harry exclaimed.

"When I said I'd tell you everything, I lied. I will now tell you everything. You are not an only child. You are in fact one of triplets. Kitty (here he gestured to the person who looked like his mother) and Jem (here he gestured to the female version of Harry) are the other two."

Harry's jaw dropped. Kitty walked forward and lifted it back into place. "I guess this is a bit of a surprise, isn't it?" Harry nodded, having lost his voice. Tears started forming in his eyes. He shook his head and looked at Dumbledore. "Why? I could have lived with them and you never told me!"

"Harry, he couldn't let that happen to you. We were in an orphanage till we were both 11!"

"Then what? You went to Beauxbatons or something?"

"Well..." Jem and Kitty both started turning a bright shade of red and looked very uncomfortable.

Harry stared at both of them, then at Dumbledore, then back to them, then back to Dumbledore, opening and shutting his mouth like a fish out of water. Finally he found his voice. "You WHAT???!!! You-went-to-Beauxbatons? Why didn't you come to Hogwarts?"

"H-Harry," said Kitty, "I didn't go to Beauxbatons. I went to Durmstrang. Jem went to Beauxbatons." She was looking increasingly uncomfortable.

"But-why didn't you both come to Hogwarts?" Harry looked at Professor Dumbledore, a look of angry confusion on his face.

Professor Dumbledore gave a sigh and turned to Harry. "It was so Voldemort didn't find it so easy to kill the three of you. He marked all three of you, you see. Jem, Kitty, show him."

Jem held out her right hand. Harry looked and saw a small scar, in the shape of a tongue of flame. Kitty pulled up the right sleeve of her top to reveal a feather shaped scar.

Harry looked at all three of them with a look of slightly confused comprehension on his face. "So how come you tell me about them now? I only just received..." He paused. "Wait a minute. Where are my letters?" He looked around and saw them by his bed. He rifled through them until he found the letter from Sirius. He reread it quietly, then looked at Dumbledore. "Is it because of this?" He asked quietly. Dumbledore nodded. "You three were all together at first, but Petunia couldn't cope with the two girls as well as you, so she put them into an orphanage. They grew up together until they got their letters. They've seen each other every summer since, when they went back to the orphanage. They'd been told about you, but weren't allowed to visit you...until now."

Harry was shell-shocked. He started to look faint. Jem quickly pulled some chocolate out of her pocket, broke some off and gave some to Harry. "Eat that. It'll help." Harry took the chocolate and nibbled at it carefully.

Dumbledore looked at Harry. "Jem and Kitty are coming to Hogwarts next year. They are being transferred. In the meantime, you are going to be staying with the Weasleys. I have arranged with your aunt, and she says that's fine. All your belongings will be arriving there later today." He picked up a screwed up piece of parchment and muttered "_portus". _ All three of them touched the paper and felt the familiar tug around the navel. Seconds later, they were at The Burrow, with all the family, apart from Percy and Charlie, standing there with open arms. Hermione was also there, a grin on her face. "Harry!" She ran forward and hugged him. She broke away from him, a huge smile on her face. "It's good to see you. How were your results? And are you going to introduce me to your sisters or not?"

"How on earth does everyone apart from me know that I have sisters? It's getting slightly annoying, you know," Harry jokingly replied.

"I'll help you upstairs with your trunk, Harry," Ginny said, hovering nervously in the middle of the group. Harry took the hint. "OK. Where are... Kitty and Jem is it?" The girls nodded. "Where are they sleeping?" "They're in my room, along with Hermione."

"I'll show you where to go," Hermione said, leading the girls upstairs. Harry headed on upstairs with them, realising only when he got to Ron's room that his trunk wasn't arriving until later that day.

Harry sat on Ron's bed waiting for Ginny to come and join him, having no idea what it was that Ginny wanted to talk to him about, but by the way she was bouncing around downstairs it couldn't be a bad thing. He was looking down at his feet when she walked in. "What was it that you wante..." Ginny brushed her lips against Harry's cutting his question short, putting her arms around his neck and straddling him. Harry's like for Ginny had only come about properly about 6 months ago, that's not to say he didn't like her before, but he had seen her in a new light since Harry had started the DA. Ginny, on the other hand, had liked him since she first set eyes on him at King's Cross Station where he'd asked for help getting through the magical barrier to platform 9 ¾ to go to Hogwarts for the first time. Harry lifted his hand and ran it through Ginny's soft crimson locks as her supple lips crushed against his again and lingered there. Harry's tongue slipped between her moist lips and into Ginny's warm mouth, his tongue brushing against hers as she massaged it with expert skill. She pressed her full weight against Harry's body and they fell back onto his best friend's bed, as their hands eagerly started to fully explore each others body for the first time. They rolled over and Harry was now lying on top of her, Ginny's hands sliding up and down his back, lifting his jumper over his head.

Ron walked in and spotted them on his bed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you," he said bashfully, and turned to leave. Then it hit him, it was his sister and his best friend rolling around on his bed, his bed!! "Get off my sis...actually, no, get off my best friend, Ginny." Just then something else hit him, unfortunately for him it was Hermione, who had just punched him in the arm.

"You're such an insensitive git!"

Author's note: Hope you're enjoying this! Sorry Gryphon, I am afraid it is a Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione fic. Still, I hope you'll read it anyway! Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter! The next chapter might be a little while in coming as it is only half written at the moment, so bear with me. Cheers all,

Smudge.

PS. I am away for the next two weekends, so you might have to wait a bit for chapter 3.


	3. Birthday surprises

Disclaimer: As last time, I own nothing apart from Jem, Kitty, Roger, Penny, Rhys and Shannon. Many thanks to Stuart, Emma, Marina and Dan, all of whom gave me ideas for this chapter, apart from Dan, who proof read it.

**Birthday surprises**

Harry woke up, the sunlight shining down on his face. He started to turn over in bed, then realised what day it was. He stretched lazily and sat up...then saw the presents at the end of his bed. He sat there for a minute, just staring in wonder. He looked at his watch. 7:00! He got out of bed and plodded downstairs, where he found Ginny, Jem and Kitty all awake. "Morning girls. Happy birthday, you two," he muttered, rubbing his eyes.

"How did..." Jem started to ask, then a look of comprehension came over her face. "Oh of course. Happy birthday Harry," she smiled at him, her blue eyes sparkling.

CRACK! Fred and George apparated into the kitchen. "Morning you three," they said in unison. "Happy Birthday! We've got your birthday presents saved for later, OK?" They smiled in a way that told Harry that they were most definitely up to something, but not being sure what, he left it for the moment.

Mrs. Weasley bustled in from the kitchen, carrying a huge plate of sausages, bacon, eggs, croissants and all other types of delicious smelling substances. Seeing Harry, she put the food down on the table and came over and gave him a hug. "Happy birthday, dear. I've invited a few people round for tea so you can celebrate your birthday properly," she said in a motherly tone. She bustled back into the kitchen, humming away to herself.

Harry was about to slip out the back door into the garden when he felt a hand on his sleeve. He turned round and saw Hermione, looking plea fully at him. He nodded silently and motioned for her to join him.

When they were safely out of earshot, Harry asked the inevitable question. "What's going on between you and Ron? You seem to be quieter around each other than usual," he smiled, one of his eyebrows raised questioningly.

Hermione looked up at him, a nervous smile on her face. "He said he wants to talk to me tonight during the party," she said. "Oh Harry, I'm nervous!"

"It's alright, Hermione," Harry said, smiling. "Everything will be fine. Seriously," he added. "Now, how were your results?"

"I got outstanding on all them," she replied.

"Well done! What choices are you taking next year?" Harry positively beamed at her.

"Well, I got thinking more seriously about S.P.E.W over the summer and I've decided I'm going to try and make it international. As such, I'm going to be doing basic Auror classes...like yourself?" She looked questioningly at Harry, who gave a brief nod. She rolled her eyes slightly and carried on. "In addition to that, I'll be doing Runes and astrology."

"Not muggle studies?" Harry teased, a small smile on his face.

"No. I decided to drop that," Hermione replied. "Shall we get back in? I'm starting to get hungry."

"Now that you mention it, so am I," Harry said as they wondered back into the house. The smell of cooked bacon and sausages hit their nose as soon as they walked in. Harry smiled. Life was good again.

After breakfast, Harry ran upstairs and grabbed his presents, bringing them down onto the table in two loads. The girls, who had been given presents by various friends, brought theirs down as well, though the piles were considerably smaller than Harry's. Fred and George came in at that point, carrying a pile of six presents.

"These are from us," Fred explained.

"Open these ones first," George said, putting three multicoloured boxes in front of them. They sparkled and shimmered a thousand colours in the light. Harry tentatively poked the box, knowing what Fred and George were like. The paper on the box crackled, and Harry smiled. As he pulled aside the coloured wrappings and opened the box, he beheld a simple silver watch, carefully crafted with small black dials, but of muggle make and not that of the wizarding world. He held it up to the light, seeing it glint. He tried it on, and it fitted perfectly. He was a little puzzled, as Fred and George both had conspiratorial grins on their faces, but thought nothing of it. He turned to see what the twins had given his sisters and was pleasantly surprised. Jem had on a necklace that made her look almost regal, and Kitty had on a ring that sparkled whenever it caught the sunlight. Harry turned to the twins and was just about to thank them, when the watch began to chime the hour. Simultaneously, a rather interesting transformation began to take place.

Harry's legs, which up till then had on a nice pair of brown trousers, started shrinking...and turning green. He opened his mouth to speak but all that came out was a rather loud croak. His body turned to a vivid shade of green, and he kept on shrinking. His sisters were facing a similar predicament, as Kitty had started growing ginger paws, while Jem was hopping around, cawing frantically from a long black beak. The twins, along with Ginny, Hermione and Ron, were all in stitches, Ron even rolling around on the floor not trying to help at all. By the time they all calmed down, Harry was croaking at them reproachfully from inside a frog's body, Kitty was trying to claw herself up the table as a cat, and Jem was hopping around, cawing as loudly as a magpie could.

After the spell in the jewellery wore off, Harry grabbed Fred and George by the back of the neck. "What on earth...???!!!" he exclaimed. In a lower tone he added, "I'm your backer, remember? You wouldn't want me to take all that money back, now would you?"

Fred and George gulped. "Sorry guys," they said in unison. Fred whispered in one ear, "though they might come in handy next year, don't you think?" George gave the other presents they had to them. "These are the real presents," they said, as the triplets opened the packages. Inside were three packs of Bertie Botts Every flavour Beans.

"Thanks guys," Harry smiled at the twins. In their ears, he whispered, "it makes a change from normal," a hint of laughter in his voice. He turned back to his presents and randomly picked one up. It was medium sized with magical wrapping paper, which swirled into different pictures as he looked at it. He put it to his ear and listened carefully. He could hear something but he wasn't sure what it was, so he carefully opened it. Inside, the sight he saw astounded him. Trotting around was a miniature Pegasus, beautifully coloured dappled grey. The girls had obviously been given one each as well, as Harry could hear them making cries of joy and amazement. The three of them rose into the air, Jem's black and Kitty's white. Ginny and Hermione were smiling, so Harry guessed easily that they were both in this together. Underneath was a thin object, which Harry guessed to be Hermione's present. Unwrapping it, he found it to be 'How to look after your Pegasus' by Dr. M.V. Dalvo. Smiling, he hugged the girls, asking them, "So who's idea was it?"

"Ginny's actually," Hermione replied, shoving her hands in her pockets. "She thought it would be a nice gesture, seeing you only have Hedwig, and we thought why not get your sisters one in the process. The book's from me and the Pegasi are from Ginny. And before you ask, she got the money from Fred and George. Hagrid's got you some food as soon as he heard. You do like them, don't you?" she asked nervously.

"Of course I do!" Harry exclaimed. "They're more than I could have ever dreamed of!" He looked at the three miniature horses, flying around above him and the girls, and smiled. He opened the package that was obviously Hagrid's. Inside was enough food to keep all three Pegasi well fed till term time. Harry only had 3 packages, one of which was from Ron and the other two he guessed were from Kitty and Jem. He let the girls open his present to them first, which was a heap of chocolate frogs for them both. "I couldn't think of anything really special, you see," he explained rather sheepishly. "I'll get you a better present for Christmas, I promise."

"That's alright, Harry. We understand completely," Jem replied. "After all, you haven't known we existed all that long. Now, we let Ron in on our present choice, and it's rather aptly themed. Open this one first," she said, pointing to a plain black box with no wrapping.

Harry opened it. Inside it was another watch, similar to the one Fred and George had given him, apart from one detail. Across the face of the watch was a shape like a lightning bolt. Harry blinked, rubbed his eyes, and blinked again, more to keep out the tears...and memories...that came flooding into his mind. He shook his head to clear it, then took the next box along. This one was wrapped in red paper, much like Kitty's hair. Harry opened this one carefully, having put the watch on his wrist. In this one was a plain black band with a bubble hanging on it. Looking in the bubble, Harry could again see the bolt of lightning, except that this one was moving. He put it on carefully and moved onto the last box. This was obviously from Ron, so Harry tore off the wrapping and looked inside. There he saw a ring, again with the same bubble and lightning bolt. He put it on and looked to the girls. They both had a necklace, a bracelet and a ring, except that Kitty's had a feather and Jem's had a live flame in each of the bubbles. "Thanks girls, thanks Ron." Harry smiled. "These are the best gifts of all. Now, what do you say we have some lunch? I for one am starving!"

Author's Note: Sorry this took so long! I intended on making this chapter longer, but there is sooooo much to fit in. Plus I thought I'd kept you waiting in suspense for long enough! I will try and get the next bit done as soon as I can, but it'll be at least 2 weeks. Sorry guys! Oh and for those who are wondering, yes, the Pegasi and the 'scar jewellery' are going to be important, as will Fred and George's joke presents, but you won't find out how until they all get to Hogwarts.

Please review this! I badly need constructive criticism. Thanks. Smudge.


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